Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/29238
Title: Non-dual Awareness and Sensory Processing in Meditators: Insights from Startle Reflex Modulation
Authors: Kumari, V
Tailor, U
Saifullah, A
Pandey, R
Antonova, E
Keywords: habituation;prepulse inhibition;startle reflex;mindfulness;meditation;non-dual Awareness
Issue Date: 8-Jul-2024
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: Kumari, V. et al. (2024) 'Non-dual awareness and sensory processing in meditators: Insights from startle reflex modulation', Consciousness and Cognition, 123, 103722, pp. 1 - 16. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103722.
Abstract: Startle modulation paradigms, namely habituation and prepulse inhibition (PPI), can offer insight into the brain’s early information processing mechanisms that might be impacted by regular meditation practice. Habituation refers to decreasing response to a repeatedly-presented startle stimulus, reflecting its redundancy. PPI refers to response reduction when a startling stimulus “pulse” is preceded by a weaker sensory stimulus “prepulse” and provides an operational measure of sensorimotor gating. Here, we examined habituation and PPI of the acoustic startle response in regular meditators (n = 32), relative to meditation-naïve individuals (n = 36). Overall, there was no significant difference between meditators and non-meditators in habituation or PPI, but there was significantly greater PPI in meditators who self-reported being able to enter and sustain non-dual awareness during their meditation practice (n = 18) relative to those who could not (n = 14). Together, these findings suggest that subjective differences in meditation experience may be associated with differential sensory processing characteristics in meditators.
Description: Data availability: Data will be made available on request.
URI: https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/29238
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2024.103722
ISSN: 1053-8100
Other Identifiers: ORCiD: Veena Kumari https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9635-5505
ORCiD: Elena Antonova https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1624-3202
103722
Appears in Collections:Dept of Life Sciences Research Papers

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